National Institute of Justice Issues Challenge to Develop High Speed Software Applications that Improve Law Enforcement, Community Safety

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is hosting an open session Jan. 14 to encourage the innovation of software applications that employ freely available government data to advance public safety.

Following the Safety Datapalooza, the open session encourages innovators from the private, nonprofit and academic sectors to discuss the development of ultra-high-speed software applications to be used to improve law enforcement and community safety and respond to a current NIJ Challenge.

NIJ's ultra-high-speed (UHS) Networking and Brainstorming meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 1:15- 4:00 p.m. EST, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Jefferson Auditorium, Washington DC. Interested participants must RSVP, no later than 5:00 p.m. EST Monday, January 13, to attend the UHS Challenge networking and brainstorming meeting athttp://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/fy13-ultra-high-speed-apps-challenge-meeting.aspx

The National Institute of Justice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) seek to promote the development and evaluation of criminal justice software applications (apps) that are compatible with Ultra-High-Speed (UHS) networks (100Mbps symmetrical up to 1Gbps symmetrical). The National Institute of Justice offers the Challenge as a call to design and create UHS-compatible apps that measurably improve the efficiency and/or effectiveness of criminal justice and public safety services and operation.

Such apps, for example, might alert law enforcement to predictable threats and disasters, provide information to mitigate the impact of unpreventable disasters and enhance existing resource management and analytical tools. The Challenge is open to everyone who has ideas that use ultra-high-speed apps to keep law enforcement and communities safer.

The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.